“Today, I’m going to walk you through an exciting new experiment we’re running for the next six weeks—our 6-week sprint. This is a new approach to group coaching that focuses on improving NOB attainment and speed to NOB for our yellow avatar clients. We’ve learned a lot from previous tests, and I’m excited to share how we’re adapting and what this means for you as mentors.”

“In September, we tested small-group mentorship with five cohorts. Unfortunately, the results were inconsistent, and while some groups saw improvement, others went backward. In some cases, the clients didn’t pair well, or I selected the wrong clients. The truth is, the green clients—those already succeeding—did well in a group setting, but the yellow clients didn’t improve at the speed we hoped. So, we’re pivoting.”

"Our goal now is to support yellow avatar clients more effectively—especially in terms of taking action and improving their NOB, while also providing value to all our clients during this test phase."

“We’ve learned that the green clients—those who are already doing well—don’t need a change in their model. They thrive with the current 1:1 mentorship. But yellow avatars need something different: more touchpoints and more accountability. The goal is to increase speed to NOB for these clients, and that’s where the group coaching model comes in.”

“In our previous test, we found that small-group coaching helped some clients, but it didn’t necessarily lead to better results. This time, we’re refining the test: no more small-group mentorship. Instead, we’re providing more frequent Office Hours to give yellow avatars more chances for touchpoints and coaching."

“This is a 6-week sprint that will be a bonus for clients—not a permanent change. The goal is to help yellow avatars take action, reduce mentor-client communication issues, and provide more value.”

“Starting March 17, we’ll run three new Office Hours every week to give clients more access to us and provide more support in real-time. We’re making sure the schedule fits across time zones: one for Europe, one for Australia, and one for North America. Plus, we’ll continue our rotating Office Hours on Wednesdays.”

• Structure of Office Hours:
• Q&A Coaching: A space for clients to ask questions, identify their Next Best Step, and receive coaching.
• Work Period: Clients can use the time to work through tasks with guidance available.
• Burning Fires: A space to address urgent challenges and get quick feedback.

Goals for the Test:

1. Action from Yellow Avatars: We’ll track attendance and compare it with their NOB to see if these extra touchpoints help them take more action.
2. Reduced Messages to Mentors: This will help alleviate some of the rising concerns around mentor-client communication. Never give out your cell number; clients should be directed to Office Hours or email for communication.
3. Rate Leveling: Some clients have been left behind on growth rates. This sprint will provide a way for them to catch up and benefit from more frequent coaching.
4. Coaching and Accountability: Providing more frequent touchpoints to help yellow avatars gain the accountability they need to move forward.

Quickcast: "The Power of Proven Tools: Why Following the Toolkit Drives Predictable Success"

**Introduction (3–5 minutes):**

“You’ve heard it a hundred times: 'There's more than one way to skin a cat.' But in our mentorship practice, there’s only one way to drive predictable, repeatable success—and that’s by following the proven strategies in our toolkit.”

“We’ve refined our approach through trial and error, through working with nearly 3000 gyms. That’s a lot of data. The methods we recommend aren’t random—they’re the product of years of testing and experience.”

"While new ideas can be exciting, our job as mentors is not to offer something different or untested to our clients. It’s to help them apply what’s already been proven to work in a way that drives predictable outcomes."

The Myth of the Perfect Idea

“It’s tempting to share the latest 'shiny object' you heard about in the Tinker program, on outside podcasts, or in books. But those ideas are unproven, and often just variations on strategies that aren’t fully tested or proven in the real world.

**Example Story 1:** Bring a Friend *Day* vs. Bring a Friend *Week*.

- “We’ve found that ‘Bring a Friend Day’ works because it creates urgency, limits the time frame, and focuses the gym owner on conversion. A week just creates delays, more work, and a larger window for losing potential leads. A day does what a week doesn’t—it converts faster.”

- **Example Story 2:** Rate Increase Letters.

- “The rate increase letter we provide in the Growth Toolkit is the result of years of feedback, refinement, and testing. It’s not about creating your own version. While a mentor’s individual letter might seem like a good idea, it’s not backed by the same level of data. It’s a roll of the dice.”

“There are many versions of pretty good but only one version of excellence.”

**Part 2: "Why New Ideas Aren’t Always Better" (12 minutes)**

“When you’re working with clients in the Growth or Stage 1 phases, they need predictability. They need tools that are proven to work, not variations of ideas that haven’t been fully tested yet.”

The Progression From Stage 1 to Growth.

- “In Stage 1, gym owners are just starting out, and they don’t have the bandwidth to experiment with new ideas. They need clear guidance, a step-by-step plan that’s been honed over years. Anything else just leads to more distractions.”

- **Picture your staff walking down a road toward a finish line. Every new thing you add is a step backward – they have to learn it, screw it up, and do it well before it becomes a step forward. You can’t eliminate these backward steps, but you should minimize them. The less you change, the faster they go. Novelty creates friction.”

“Our job isn’t to reinvent the toolkit or come up with new ideas—it’s to deliver what’s already working even better.”

"Delivering Consistency Over Innovation" (10 minutes)**

“Our toolkit has already been refined, tested, and proven across hundreds and thousands of clients. It’s tempting to think that new or 'cutting-edge' ideas are the best solution, but our job is to apply what's in front of us with excellence.”

Tinker Ideas vs. Proven Success.

“The Tinker program is a laboratory for ideas—some of those ideas will make it into our toolkit, but only after rigorous testing. Until then, we need to stick with the processes that have been proven to drive results, not the unproven experiments.”

“It’s not boring to follow proven strategies—it’s what gives our clients the results they expect.”

**Conclusion (3–5 minutes):**

“As mentors, we don’t need

Quickcast: Coaching vs Mentorship

In this quickcast, I’ll explain the difference between coaching and mentorship, and why it matters for our approach as mentors.

**Coaching** is about helping people execute a model or strategy with precision and skill. Coaches focus on **tactics**, removing roadblocks and obstacles, and ensuring the client is doing the right thing at the right time. A good coach can execute a proven strategy or model with **virtuosity**, ensuring clients make faster progress without wasting time.

On the other hand, **mentorship** is about **strategic guidance** and **long-term planning**. Mentors help clients navigate the journey ahead, providing insights into broader concepts, building a path forward, and helping clients avoid common mistakes. While a mentor might help clients with high-level decisions, they don't get involved in every detail of execution. They focus on the **big picture**, helping clients avoid blind spots, and offering connections and resources to fill in the gaps.

In our current model, we’re not in the mentorship business, we’re in the **coaching** business. Our job is to help gym owners **apply** the model we’ve developed to grow their gyms effectively. The toolkit we provide has been tested and refined through years of work, and it’s our job to **help clients follow it precisely**.

That means, as mentors, we **don’t create new models** or **explore untested strategies**. Instead, we deliver the **proven, step-by-step actions** within our toolkit, and we help clients execute with **speed** and **precision**.

**So, when a mentor comes across a new idea or strategy (like from Tinker, other podcasts, or books), they should be very cautious about introducing it to a client without evidence that it’s been tested and refined in the field.** For example, the “Bring a Friend Day” is a proven strategy that works. We don’t need to reinvent it—introducing a “Bring a Friend Week” may sound interesting, but there’s no evidence that it’s more effective. Instead, it just adds complexity.

This is where we need to shift the focus: it’s not about introducing new ideas, it’s about helping clients execute **what already works** in a way that delivers consistent and predictable outcomes.

Ultimately, the most important thing we can do as mentors is to **stop reinventing the wheel** and focus on refining and applying the model we’ve already established.

Remember, **we are coaches, not mentors.** Our job is to help clients apply a proven model, **not invent new ones**. Stick to the toolkit, deliver it with precision, and get clients the results they’ve invested in.